Nehemiah 8:9

8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, ¹  Ezra the priestly scribe, ²  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ³  “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.

Nehemiah 1:4

1:4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, ⁴  crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

[8:9]  ¹ tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.

[8:9]  ² tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

[8:9]  ³ tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “sat down.” Context suggests that this was a rather sudden action, resulting from the emotional shock of the unpleasant news, so “abruptly” has been supplied in the present translation.